TOKYO - Eleven pupils and teachers were injured after a fire broke out at Takinogawa Daisan Elementary School in Tokyo's Kita Ward at around 11 a.m. on June 19, forcing more than 300 children to evacuate and briefly trapping several pupils on a narrow ledge outside a fourth-floor classroom.
According to the Metropolitan Police Department, the fire is believed to have started in a music preparation room on the fourth floor. At the time, a fifth-grade class was being held in the adjacent music room.
Footage from the scene showed smoke pouring from windows and children lined up along a narrow eave beside the wall. Flames were still visible near the children as firefighters reached them, and three pupils and a firefighter could be seen on the ledge before the children were rescued one by one by ladder.
A nearby witness said the inside of several rooms appeared red with flames. "From about three rooms away, the room was already bright red, and I sometimes heard popping sounds from the classroom side," the witness said. "It was not as loud as a gas explosion, but I heard repeated popping sounds."
Firefighters worked to extinguish the blaze as pupils evacuated from the schoolyard. Some children who had apparently been left behind were rescued by firefighters. Under a tent set up for evacuees, students were given triage tags.
Police said 11 people were injured in the fire. Eight pupils suffered injuries including smoke inhalation and a fractured elbow after falling during the evacuation. A female teacher who had been teaching in the music room is believed to have fallen from the fourth floor to the third floor and suffered a pelvic fracture. A fifth-grade homeroom teacher also complained of feeling unwell and was taken to a hospital. None of the injuries was life-threatening.
The school is located near the Nishigahara-Yonchome stop on the Toden Arakawa Line and has an attached kindergarten. Some children evacuated to a nearby park. Young pupils wearing silver disaster-prevention hoods could be seen waiting anxiously, while crying was heard among the children.
One child said he had been about to enter the swimming pool for a third-period class when the emergency bell rang. "When I looked around, flames were rising near the music room, and they gradually got stronger until fire broke through the window," he said. Asked how he felt when he saw the flames, he said, "I was scared. A real fire was really scary." He said children around him were crying.
Another pupil said the emergency bell sounded suddenly and the class went out to the schoolyard, where they saw the music room burning. The child said fifth- and sixth-grade pupils were escaping through windows. Children said they followed the evacuation rules, including not pushing, not running, not talking and not going back.
Parents who arrived to collect their children expressed relief but also concern. One parent said, "It was more serious than I had expected, but above all I am very relieved that my child is safe. The school bag and other belongings are still inside, so I think we will learn more later. We also do not know what will happen on Monday." Another parent said many first-grade pupils had cried and added, "I am worried about their mental state going forward."
The fire burned about 200 square meters and was extinguished about three hours later. Investigators said an unused stove had reportedly been kept in the music preparation room where the fire is believed to have started.
Kita Ward and the school said sprinklers had not been installed because the size of the school building was standard and there was no legal obligation to install them in the music room or the preparation room.
At a press conference, the principal said the school had not conducted evacuation drills based on a fire breaking out near the music room.
Source: 日テレNEWS
